shorts || h.s.

9 days after

"Good morning," Connor grumbled, rubbing her eyes.

Louis and Eleanor were silent. They both knew what had to be said, but they weren't ready to tell her. After that terrifying phone call last night while Connor was sleeping, Eleanor and Louis hadn't stopped shaking.

They learned that the only reason that Harry was in a holding cell and his court date was tomorrow was because his behavior toward the guards. Apparently, the violence of Harry's behavior was keeping him in the cell.

That night, the police only took him in for holding for the benefit of Connor, to make her feel safe. Because legally, he couldn't be punished at all if Connor didn't press charges. And she hadn't, because she couldn't. They didn't arrest him for rape, violence, or anything of that sense, even though they knew what had happened.

So now, Louis had to break the news to Connor that she must be at the trial tomorrow to press charges, or else he would be free. And he was willing to feel all the guilt of Connor's tears than to let Harry run free.

"Good morning," Louis coughed out. He gestured to the seat before him, and Connor cautiously sat down, seeing as he didn't usually interact this much with her.

"Good morning, Eleanor," Connor nodded, ignoring Louis as she folded her hands on the table.

"I have something to tell you," Louis spoke, pulling the attention back to himself. He cracked his knuckles as Connor hummed in response.

Louis could feel the bile rising in this throat. He could feel his eyes become desperately dry. He ran two fingers in between the front of his fringe, pushing it back across his forehead. He pulled on the shoulders of his band tee, adjusting it on his shoulders. He couldn't believe that he was sitting here, in front of a twenty-eight-year-old girl, telling her a story about her thirty-year-old, ex-boyfriend, rapist. He was thirty-three, this isn't a conversation he should be having. This isn't a conversation anyone should be having.

"Connor, I know you remember Harry and what he did, but we won't talk about that," Louis said, skipping over that part immediately.

He watched Connor's eyes as they seemed to fog over when he mentioned his name. She just wanted to block out everything about him, even his name. Louis wished so desperately for her to be able to understand she was going to have to face the harsh reality of the situation, but he knew she was healing right now.

"Do you know that his trial is tomorrow morning?" He soothed. His cotton candy voice softened the blow of the conversation heavily, yet she still shook.

"Yes," she nodded, bottom lip trembling.

"Connor, you haven't pressed charges, darling," Louis whispered, striving to keep his voice from cracking. Connor seemed to grasp the news before suddenly becoming confused.

"Okay," she croaked, prodding Louis to elaborate.

"If you don't press charges, he won't be punished." His voice was low and unstable. Connor nodded, tears slipping out of her eyes.

"They want you at the trial to press charges," Louis said.

Connor's head started to shake side to side at an unsafe speed, her matted hair flying all around her head. "No," she whispered.

"You've got to," Louis muttered, sneaking a glance at Eleanor who was silently wiping tears.

"Now?" Connor mumbled, and Louis had to infer that she was asking if she could do it now.

"I suppose you could press charges now, but if you don't show up, the charges will be dropped. The only thing he will be charged with would be assault on an officer," Louis grunted, anger washing over him again.

"I can't," Connor whined, balling her fists and banging them against her forehead. Louis and Eleanor were still very impressed that she wasn't screaming.

"You can't let him get away with this. There will be security there with you and him. Please, Connor, do it for yourself," Louis pleaded. Sometimes he felt like he was more into Harry getting punished than anyone else.

Harry begged to differ.

"She'll be there, right?" Harry distractedly asked his guard. His name was Doug.

"Why do you care? You gonna rape her again?" Doug snickered.

"No, cause I want her to lock me away for as long as she can. I wanna make her feel safe. I need to protect her in every way I can from myself," Harry admitted.

"Harry, lemme tell you something, son," the guard spoke, sitting on the floor outside Harry's cell. "The people in this fucked up nation still don't get how bad rape is. Most government officials will say you were under the influence, or Connor's clothes provoked you, which disgusts me because there are no excuses for this. 

"All of us would be so lucky to see you in jail for a week, but odds are, you won't be put away at all. They will ask her what she was wearing to provoke you. They will ask you how many drinks you had. Then, you'll get off with a couple of hours of community service for two weeks. That's just how it works," the guard confessed.

"That's not fair," Harry choked, knowing he was getting off easier than Connor was. "No '25 years' shit?" He asked, turning to Doug.

"I wish, buddy. For your sake and hers," he nodded, moving back to his appropriate standing station.

so yeah the cold hard truth. but I'll probably update later today and that will be harrys court date and im really excited for that and then I think 3 epilogues (?) and it's done! awww

for the "special" thing at the end (which comes after the epilogues so yeah) most people wanted the secrets of this story which is indeed quite juicy and some people wanted a deleted scene(which will be cute) and a couple wanted a playlist. No one wanted the character asks or the q&a so I see how it is. but yeah so I'm gonna do all three of those, but you still have until the last epilogue to vote for it so if you haven't, go do that pls.

(I really wanna do the character ask and the q&a so tell me if you would actually comment questions or if I am wasting time)

p.s. I want you to know that each time I typed doug, it autocorrected into malik and I do not know why